Pack the car and explore what New York State has to offer. Here are four family-friendly destinations where you and the kids can play, learn and have endless amounts of fun.
Sullivan Catskills
This year-round water park features 11 attractions, including an activity pool, a rope bridge challenge and slides. The room is kept at 84 degrees, which prevents any outside Catskill cold. It opens from Thursday to Sunday.
Vidbel Mountain Homestead
This fifth-generation nonprofit farm cares for several animals, many of which are rescues. The farm works to teach children to care for the resident horses, pigs and dogs. This season, the farm is open to anyone who would like to see the animals, with a special focus on child and adult visitors with special needs or dealing with illness. No admission fee.
Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
It's a nonprofit organization located at the historic 1969 Woodstock Music Festival site. Guests are welcome to explore the preserved site that held the famous festival. The center also has a museum that features artifacts from Woodstock.
Thomas Cole National Historic Site
The site has been additionally fitted with digital storytelling equipment intended to engage people of all ages and while original artworks are on display, there are also things to touch and explore.
Lionel Messi, who shone at the Qarta World Cup, is a well-known name even to those with no interest in sports. Even though he is shorter than most of his teammates, he rises above his opponents with adept skills and a legendary ability to score goals for his team.
Lionel Andres Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in the warm city of Rosario, Argentina. He was the third child in a tight-knit (亲密的) hard-working family who loved football. Naturally, young Leo developed a passion (热爱) for football himself.
At four years old Leo joined the Grandoli local club, where he was coached by his father. When he was eight, Leo joined the talented Newell Old Boys. Football soon became as important as the air he breathed. Messi practiced day in and day out, skipping outings with his friends to train at home before a game. The sport made him quite happy and motivated and he began to dream of becoming a professional footballer.
But as he grew older, his height remained the same. His concerned parents eventually took their 11-year-old son to a doctor, who broke the news that the boy suffered from a growth hormone deficiency (生长激素缺乏). This meant he was physically unable to grow unless he received special treatment, which would last three years and cost $1, 500 per month.
Stories of a 13-year-old boy who had similar talents to legendary Argentinian footballer Diego Maradona had reached the ears of FC Barcelona's technical director, Carles Rexach. Intrigued, he sent an offer to the Messi family. If he passed, the club would cover his medical bills, but on the condition that Messi moved to Spain. So, in September 2000, Leo and his family uprooted their lives and flew across the Atlantic to Barcelona.
Coach Carles was so impressed that he offered Leo a contract on the only thing he had at hand-a paper napkin. Leo signed it, opening the door to the life he had always dreamed of.
C To advertise the World Cup. D. To share an experience.
Noise pollution is one of the serious yet least recognized health threats of our time. Noise increases risks of heart disease, cognitive damage and developmental delays. Now, scientists are revealing that non-humans, too, suffer from noise pollution and that they are far more sensitive than humans. Also, marine animals see and sense the world through sound, which travels farther underwater than light. But scientists are now revealing that a vast range of marine creatures are extremely sensitive to sound. The range of negative effects cause by marine noise pollution is astonishing: delayed development, slow growth, etc.
Aquatic (水生
) plants are highly sensitive to sound. Take marine seagrass for example, just like forests on land, seagrass is a carbon sink (碳汇), contributing to stabilizing our global climate. In the past few decades, seagrass meadows the size of the Amazon have vanished. Climate change, pollution, boat anchors and the building of seawalls and harbors are all likely factors. As researchers at the Technical University of Catalonia have recently discovered, we can now add noise pollution to this list of threats. When the scientists exposed a sample of Mediterranean seagrass to powerful blast-level sound, the seagrass was severely damaged. Their sensitive hearing is an advantage in the dark depths of the ocean, but it makes aquatic organisms very vulnerable. Loud underwater sounds can damage or destroy their hearing ability. These effects occur at much lower intensities (强度) of sound than are known to be damaging to animals on land.
These findings stress the vast threat that marine noise pollution poses to our oceans. As offshore operations — from seabed mining to oil and gas and renewable energy construction — are increasing, little thought has been given to noise pollution. While exposure limitation levels haven't yet been determined, it is clear that this emerging science will lead to new restrictions on the permitting and operations of marine industrial and shipping activities.
Some of the biggest and most successful companies are opening new offices and their trendiest feature is focused on plants and insects. After moving to Seattle, Microsoft began to build its work spaces outdoors— and more specifically, in the trees, which are now compromised of 125 buildings.
This style of biophilic (亲自然的) design— an integration of natural materials, natural light, views of nature and other experiences of the natural world into the built environment—sounds pretty and good for the planet. But that hardly seems like enough of a reason for big companies to pay billions for biophilic designs. In fact, they are motivated by economics.
A study with employees of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District Call Center revealed that workers who had a view of the natural environment handled about 7% more calls than those who did not. The cost of reforming offices to give each employee an outdoor view was about $1, 000 per employee, while their increased productivity added up to $2,900 in increased income per employee per year.
Another study by the Think Wood campaign concludes that nature can have a beneficial effect on creativity, concentration and well-being. Not only do cool-looking biophilic offices help companies recruit (招聘) talent in an incredibly tight labor market, but they also nudge the new talent to perform better at work.
"Being more creative and flexible with our workspace allows us to be more creative and productive in our work and the products we create. It's like a little getaway," Said Bret Boulder, Head of Capital Assets.
Of course, small companies don't have a spare couple of billion to spend on "park-like" outdoor offices. But the good news is that biophilic design is not necessarily expensive. Even just staring at a neighboring green roof for less than a minute has been shown to boost productivity.
Rene Campbell has devoted most of her life to shaping her figure into one completely against what society thinks a woman should look like.
"I was always very insecure about my body image, as everyone seemed to know for sure that women needed to look a certain way," she says when reflecting on her motivation to transform herself. For quite some time, she struggled with eating disorders because she was trying to keep her weight really low and appear skinny, like the women on magazine covers. It was then that she became attracted by the way these seemingly confident women held themselves.
However, building her dream body—gaining over 85 pounds, going from a size 8 to 14—has had its challenges, too. " When I tell them that I am a female bodybuilder, the first reaction is, ‘Muscles for women are just not attractive,'" Campbell says. Though she loves the way she now looks, she is sometimes treated with cruelty.
Even though there is a huge market encouraging women to build muscles and tighten their figures, the ideal still stands for smaller waists, and thin legs, the so-called perfect figure. For women to build up strong muscles, it takes a strong heart.
"I gradually learn to ignore others' voices and become committed to the training. It is a very big shift for me, and it has won me plenty of awards. My bodybuilding journey makes me realize that I need to do things for myself." Campbell says.
A. She was constantly feeling under pressure.
B. Women have to pay a huge price to build a slim figure.
C. It does bring a sense of confidence and mental strength.
D. The body of super-muscular women is considered unwelcome.
E. Luckily, Campbell was chosen to shoot for one of the magazines.
F. People don't understand why women would want to be muscular.
G. Purely by chance, Campbell attended a women's bodybuilding show.
I walked to Mrs. Windsor's house and waited outside. She was working with another student, and I was not supposed to 1 them by ringing the bell. I stood against the wall and 2 what I'd rather be doing. I had been tutored enough to read, understand, and even write some musical compositions, but I just didn't have a 3 for it. Mrs. Windsor had offered to give me the lessons 4 , so I felt it my duty to try.
The door opened and Wendy Barton came out. I walked in, sat down on the piano bench and began to 5 my sheet music. Today Mrs. Windsor 6 her niece Pasha to teach me.
With a smile, Pasha sat beside me on the piano bench, opened my sheet music to the beginning page and asked me to play. I 7 my fingers on the keys. Then I frowned and concentrated to make the notes on the page 8 the finger movements. I had to admit I was a rather 9 pianist.
After about a page or two, Pasha gently put her hand on top of mine as it to 10 my fingers. There was a long pause. "What are you hearing in the music?" I looked at her rather 11 and admitted I didn't know what she meant, "Like a 12 . Here, let me try and you listen, "Pasha advised.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting her fingers 13 lightly over the keys. Then, she began to play. "See, it begins here beside some kind of river. Hear the water flowing beside you?" Her fingers 14 and fell gently on the keys. "Now a princess appears and she's picking flowers from the water's 15 . " A happy piece of music filled the air in time to Pasha's dancing fingers.
It was Mid-Autumn Festival. 79-year-old Bill Porter (grab) a glass of whiskey while enjoying the full moon, and recited an ancient Chinese poem outside his house in the United States. Porter has translated some 2,000 Chinese poems English and published a series of books related to Chinese poetry and philosophy in the past decades.
"To me, the beauty about ancient Chinese poems is the lines of poetry are usually short, with five or seven Chinese (character). You have to read them many times before you can discover their inside meaning. It's like adventure. "Among Porter's favorite poets were Su Shi, noted for his optimism in the face of challenges, Tao Yuanming, an Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420) poet famous for his pursuit of free spirit. (see) the Chinese poets as his dear friends, Porter once traveled across China to visit their former residences, birthplaces and graves.
Currently, Porter is translating more poems by Tao Yuanming, and his translation work Poems of the Masters (publish) in China soon. He will continue working hard to introduce the beauty of the (tradition) Chinese culture to Westerners. "The Chinese culture is like a treasure chest," he said, "I would like (share) the treasure I found with others."
注意：
1.写作词数应为80左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear Jim,
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
Allen was playing in his room. He heard a familiar chirping and rustling from the cage in the bedroom corner. It was his beloved Blue Finch, named Mary. The boy had cared for the bird since he was six, a gift from his mother for graduating from kindergarten and entering primary school. Now, at 12 years old, Allen had just recently celebrated his primary school graduation and was about to take another step in his life journey toward junior high school. For the past six years, Mary was his constant companion and closest friend.
As he grew up Allen found it difficult to make friends or be close to others. Having had to move around many times and transfer schools due to his father's work in the military, Allen never felt like he truly belonged in any one place. He always knew it wouldn't be long before he would have to move yet again. The stress and pressure of a constantly mobile life also led to strain and pressure at home, leading to loud arguments and fights between his mother and father which he could hear from behind closed doors.
But, throughout all of this. Allen's closest friend and companion-the true source of stability in his life — was Mary, his finch. But Mary was more than just a simple, calm pet: whenever Allen felt sad, the bird would always be singing and chirping, almost as if she sensed how he felt and wanted to lift his spirits. And when Allen fed the bird, Mary always moved across her branch to rest against his finger, never failing to bring a smile to Allen's face. Yet, one summer day after Allen had come home after a walk at the park he found the window of his bedroom open and the door of Mary's cage open-the-bird was gone. Suddenly, Allen realized that he must have left the cage open after cleaning it and forgot about the window being open on such a hot day. Upset, Allen fell down to the floor sobbing.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150词左右；
2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
Upon hearing the noise, Allen's mother rushed upstairs and asked what had happened.
Filled with anticipation, Allen and his mother went outside to look for Mary.
